1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to railway hopper cars and in particular to latching mechanisms for trough hatch covers provided for longitudinally extending hatch openings in a hopper car.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art discloses a variety of trough hatch latching mechanisms. For example, coapplicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,714 issued Apr. 2, 1974 exemplifies the prior art and is incorporated by reference herein.
Typically, in a hopper car having longitudinally extending trough hatches, a plurality of trough hatches are hingedly positioned longitudinally adjacent to one another for selectively opening and closing portions of an elongated hatch opening provided in the roof of the car. Additionally, a resilient sealing gasket is generally provided about the bottom periphery of each hatch which is partially compressed to sealingly engage the hatch to the roof of the car when the closed hatch is locked into position by its associated latching mechanism.
When analyzing the hatch latching mechanisms disclosed by the prior art, railway workman safety experience should also be considered. More particularly, since hatch latching mechanisms are located on the roof of a hopper car which is generally 12 to 18 feet above the ground, it is essential to provide a latch which will substantially obviate the possibility of a careless workman slipping and falling from the roof of the car and seriously injuring himself while attempting to open or close the latch.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,714 cited in the foregoing discloses one method of reducing the possibility of workman injury by providing a latch which only requires a workman to exert effort along the longitudinal axis of the hopper. Thus, if the workman loses his grasp of the latch and falls while attempting to open it, he will fall onto the roof of the car instead of over its side 12 to 18 feet below. Such a latch structure clearly reduces the possibility of injury, but since the prior art latching mechanisms generally require two hands to manipulate, it is difficult for a workman to brace himself while he is operating the latch except by hanging onto the mechanism itself.